Chapter 6 His Sacrifice
At dawn, we emerged from the ruins, bloodied and exhausted, carrying our wounded and our dead. The souls Morwen had held for centuries were finally free, scattered to whatever afterlife awaited seers. The one who freed them was only a small child, barely able to stand.
Pip walked between Kael and me, staggering, her small hands twitching. Her silver eyes, once radiant and wild with life, stared blankly now. Each silent step from her chilled me to the bone. Her emptiness was worse than any wound, a quiet terror stealing my breath.
Behind us, Brick leaned heavily on Mira, his large frame bent in pain. His wounds from the fight with Morwen had reopened during the final battle, when she threw him into a pillar with enough force to crack stone. He survived, but he would never be the same.
Rafe carried his youngest child, Lily, who had been caught in Morwen's backlash. At nine years old, she was breathing shallowly, her skin gray, and her eyes closed. Mira had done what she could in the temple, but true healing required time and resources we did not have.
The other two children, Kip and Tansy, walked beside Rafe, their faces blank with shock. They had seen friends die and nearly lost everyone they loved. They were only eleven and nine.
Mags brought up the rear, knife drawn, her good eye scanning the tree line for threats. She had been silent since we left the temple. This was not her usual gruff silence, but something deeper, grief.
Kael took my hand as we walked. He did not speak. There was nothing to say.
The Rusted Nail appeared through the trees an hour later.
The tavern had changed. It was now a fortress: boards covered the windows, barricades blocked the doors, and watchers stood on the roof. When they saw us, they waved and hurried inside to spread the news.
By the time we arrived, everyone was waiting.
The wounded were carried inside first: Brick to his pallet near the hearth, Lily to a bed in the back where Mira could tend to her, and Pip to a corner where she could sit quietly, out of the way.
We stood in the common room, still covered in blood and dust, numb, the shock pressing harder than any physical wound, the horror clinging to us like another layer of grime.
Mags was the first to speak.
"We need to talk about what comes next."
"Can it wait?" Rafe's voice was raw. "My children are—"
"It can't." Mags's tone was gentle but firm.
"Morwen's alive. Wounded, yes. Stripped of her soul. She won't recover for a long time."
I leaned against the bar, feeling every bruise and broken rib. "Pip took everything from her. Every soul, every bit of stolen power. She's empty now. Just human."
"For now." Mags met my eye. "But she knows where we are. Our faces, names, and weaknesses. She’s survived worse for centuries. She’ll return."
"Then we find her first," someone said.
"Where? She could be anywhere….”
Everyone turned as Pip spoke, her voice small but clear. "She'll go to the catacombs. Deep down, where the oldest tunnels are. There's something there. Something she's been hiding for centuries."
"The weapon," Mags said.
Pip nodded. "The souls showed me before they left. She's been building it for hundreds of years, feeding it power from the seers she consumed. It's almost ready."
"Ready for what?"
Pip’s eyes met mine, ancient fear filling them. "To consume everything."
A heavy silence blanketed the room, every breath thick with dread and the weight of unspeakable fears.
Mira emerged from the back, hands trembling, face gray. "Lily is stable for now, but needs real help. There's a city healer. If we get her—"
"Go," Rafe said, already moving. "Kip, Tansy, with me. We'll carry her."
"I'll come." Mira grabbed her bag. "She might need treatment on the way."
They left quickly. Rafe carried Lily, with Kip and Tansy on either side, and Mira followed with her kit. The door closed behind them, leaving the room even emptier.
Brick groaned from his pallet. "Someone get me a drink. If I’m dying, let me be drunk."
"You're not dying," Mira called from outside. "It's stubbornness keeping you alive. You have plenty."
Brick almost smiled.
The day passed in fragments of time.
I slept for a few hours, collapsed in a corner, too exhausted to find a real bed. When I woke, the sun was high, and the tavern was silent, an uneasy quiet pressing down on me. re I had left her, still staring into space. I sat beside her in silence, waiting.
"They’re gone," she said at last. "All of them. Even the old ones. They crossed over."
"Is that good?"
"I think so." She looked up. "They said thank you. For freeing them. For giving them peace."
"You did that. Not me."
"We did it together." She leaned into me, small and warm. "That’s what family does."
Family. The word lingered, warm and raw, stirring an ache I hadn’t known I carried.
The word again.
It didn't feel strange anymore.
Kael found us like that, Pip and me, curled together in the corner, pretending to rest. He sat across from us, close enough to touch. He spoke quietly, "Mags is forming a scout team. She wants Morwen’s trail before it goes cold."
"I’ll go," I said. "She’s mine. From the moment I woke in that shack, she’s pulled strings, trying to control me. I need to end this."
"Together." He took my hand. "All of us. That’s how it works now."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to protect them, to keep them safe, and to face Morwen alone as I had faced everything alone in my first life.sn't alone anymore.
"Together," I agreed.
The afternoon stretched on.
Mags sent runners through her informants. They returned hours later: no sign of Morwen. "That's worse," Mags said. "She's hiding. Healing. Planning."
"Where would you go if you were her?" Kael asked.
I thought about it. About what I knew of Morwen. About what Pip's souls had shown us.
"She’d go somewhere with PI, considering what I knew of Morwen and what Pip's souls had revealed.bs The weapon is there."
"Then that's where we go."
"Tonight. Before she recovers."
Mags nodded. "I'll get everyone ready."
Dusk fell.
The scout team gathered. Mags, Brick, Kael, and me. Rafe wanted to come, but his place was with Lily and the remaining children. Mira needed to. The scout team gathered: Mags, Brick, Kael, and me. Rafe wanted to join, but his place was with Lily and the remaining children. Mira needed to stay and heal, and Pip needed to rest.
We were as ready as soon as possible. Then the door opened, and everything changed.
Corvus walked in.
He appeared severely injured. His face was pale, his eyes sunken, and his clothes were torn and stained with blood. One arm hung at an unnatural angle, clearly broken. With his other hand, he pressed his side, blood seeping through his fingers.
But he was alive.
Everyone in the tavern stopped. Several reached for their weapons. Rafe's children moved behind him. Brick attempted to stand, failed, and cursed.
I stood slowly, holding my knives, and stared at the man who had killed me.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm warning you." His voice was hoarse and desperate, barely recognizable.
"She is not finished. She never is. The weapon is nearly ready. She has been empowering it for centuries. If she reaches it before you do..."
"How do you know this?"
"Because I've been with her." He stumbled forward and caught himself on a table. "After the temple, I followed her. Watched her crawl into the catacombs. Watched her drag herself to the weapon and start drawing power from it."
He looked up, and his eyes were filled with something I'd never seen in him before. Fear. "It's changing her. Making her stronger. If you don't stop her tonight, no one will."
"Why trust you?" Mags’s voice was cold. "You killed her. Morwen’s puppet for years. Why now?"
"Because she's going to kill me too." Corvus laughed, a broken, terrible sound.
"The weapon marked me when I got too close. I can feel it spreading. Eating me from the inside. I have days, maybe hours." He met my eyes. "I don't expect forgiveness. I don't expect trust. But I know where she is. I know the tunnels, the traps, the defenses. I can get you there."
"And then?"
"Then I die." He said it simply. "Maybe that’s enough. Maybe not. But it’s all I have."
Silence fell over us, heavy with judgment, hope, and old wounds. Everyone looked at me. The man who killed me asked for another chance. I felt betrayal and anger, but doubt made me hesitate. I could have killed him. Someone spoke up. I lifted my hand.
"If he’s lying, he dies. If he’s telling the truth, we need him," I said. Then I turned to Corvus. "If this is a trap, or if anyone gets hurt, your death will be slow."
He nodded. "I know."
Corvus led us, limping and bleeding, barely able to stand but moving with purpose. He knew the tunnels beneath the city as if he had been born there. Corvus led us, limping and bleeding, barely able to stand but moving with purpose. He knew the tunnels beneath the city as if he had been born there. In many ways, he had. I had trained him in these shadows.
"The entrance is under a collapsed building in the oldest part of the city," he said as we walked. "She’s been using it for centuries. There are traps, wards, and creatures she controls."
"Creatures?" Brick's voice was skeptical.
"You'll see."
The entrance was exactly where he said it would be.
A hole in the ground beneath a burned\-out building, leading to stairs that descended into absolute black. The air that emerged was cold, ancient. A hole in the ground beneath a burned\-out building led to stairs descending into complete darkness.
The air was cold, ancient, and unsettling. That seemed designed to confuse. Without Corvus's guidance, we would have been lost in minutes. But he moved with certainty, pointing out traps before they sprang, warning of wards before they activated.
"You know this place well," Mags observed.
"I've been coming here for years. Morwen trusted me." He let out a bitter laugh. "That was foolish of her."
"She trusted you because you were useful."
"Yes." He glanced back at me. "Like you trusted me. Like I was useful to you."
I didn't respond.
The chamber opened suddenly, a vast space carved from living rock, lit by the same silver fire that had surrounded Morwen in the temple. At its center, the chamber opened suddenly, a vast space carved from living rock, lit by the same silver fire that had surrounded Morwen in the temple.
At its center stood a pillar of light, pulsing and hungry. Her body is shaking with exhaustion. Yet her eyes still burned with that ancient hunger, and when she saw us, she smiled.
"Ah. My creation returns. With my traitor." She laughed, a horrible, wet sound. "How fitting."
"It's over, Morwen." I stepped forward, knives ready. "Your weapon, your souls, your power, all gone. Surrender."
"Surrender?" She stood slowly, painfully. "Child, I've been alive for three centuries. I've surrendered to nothing and no one. I won't start now."
She raised her hand.
The pillar flared.
Light erupted from it, silver, blinding, and hungry. It reached for us, for our souls, for everything we were. I felt it pulling, tugging, wanting more.
“Shit! Specter!” Corvus stepped in front of me.
"NO!" Morwen screamed. "Not you—"
The light hit him.
He didn't burn. He didn't crumble. He didn't die. Instead, he glowed with the same silver light, filling him from inside and consuming him. His face twisted with pain, but he didn't move, didn't flinch, and didn't stop blocking the light from reaching us.
"Corvus." I started.
"Run! We came too late." His voice was wrecked, barely human. "Get out. Now. I'll hold it as long as I can."
He looked right at me, and for a moment, I saw the boy I had raised. He was the same wild child who once snapped at my hand, the same boy who used to look at me like I was his last hope.
"This is my choice. My redemption. Let me have it,"
The light burst out, filling the room, and his screams tore through the air, rough and desperate.
Mags grabbed my arm. "We have to go. Now."
"She'll die without him."
"She'll kill us all if we stay." Mags pulled me toward the tunnel. "He's buying us time. Don't waste it."
I looked at Corvus one last time. At the boy who'd killed me, then saved me. At the man who'd chosen, in the end, to be better.
He smiled, just a ghost of his old smile, and then the light consumed him completely.
We ran.
Behind us, the chamber exploded. Silver light shot out from the tunnels, from the ground, from everywhere at once. It covered us as we ran. I felt it, warm, not with fire, but with light. Silver light shot out from the tunnels, from the ground, from everywhere at once. It covered us as we ran, both warm and cold, and with it came whispers. We'll remember, the voice echoed in my mind.
As the light finally faded, we emerged into the night, gasping and trembling and alive.
We made it back to the Rusted Nail. Then they were gone, the light faded, and we emerged into the night, gasping, trembling, and alive. They saw our faces, saw who was missing, and asked no questions.
Pip came to me, took my hand.
"Corvus?" she asked quietly.
"Gone. He saved us."
"The souls have him now." Her eyes went distant. "They're taking care of him. He's not alone."
I pulled her close and held on.
Morwen was gone. The weapon was destroyed. Corvus had sacrificed himself to save us.
The war was over.
But as I looked at my family, battered, grieving, but alive, I knew that the real work was just beginning.
Healing.
Rebuilding.
Learning to live, but as I looked at my family, battered and grieving but alive, I knew the real work was just beginning.